A year after Trump’s surprise election victory, the cracks in his movement are starting to show

Tuesday’s state and local elections yielded big wins for Democrats and potentially exposed the weak points in President Donald Trump’s movement.Democrats had suffered embarrassing losses in congressional elections since Trump took office, despite vocal support for their causes on social media and in massive protests.While the Democratic Party has big problems with its leadership and direction, Tuesday may have shown a blueprint for how the anti-Trump resistance can win ground.

One year after major media outlets and forecasters gave Donald Trump only a slim chance of winning the presidency against Hillary Clinton, cracks have begun to show in the movement that ushered Trump into office.

Democrats turn the tables

Tuesday’s elections were seen as key for Democrats after a string of defeats. Even as Democrats galvanized against the president on social media and in massive protests across the country, a series of special elections earlier this year had delivered a brutal, embarrassing blow to Trump’s opponents.

Tuesday’s election results show that Trump’s movement may have gone too far in defending Confederate heritage even in a Southern state that’s 70% white.

Democrats in shambles nationally but gaining traction locally

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Hillary Clinton, then the Democratic presidential nominee, at a campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina.

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Thomson Reuters

Looking ahead to 2018, when a much wider band of political contests opens up for the control of the House and the Senate, Dave Wasserman, a polling expert who edits the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, tweeted: “You can’t really look at tonight’s results and conclude that Democrats are anything other than the current favorites to pick up the U.S. House in 2018.”

Retaking the House would remain a steep task, however, with Trump and Republicans retaining a consolidated grip on power nationally.

But Democrats have until 2020 to work out a direct challenger to Trump, and in the meantime, Tuesday showed promise for a movement that could perhaps unseat Senate, House, state, and local Republicans and exploit the cracks in Trumpism.